TRAGEDY OF POVERTY

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8346, 5 February 1913, Page 8

TRAGEDY OF POVERTY

LONDON, December 2D. Two cases of extreme poverty ia Colne were brought to the notice of tho East Lancashire Coroner, when he conducted inquests into the deaths of two young children... The first one was with reference to the death of* Lydia Horsfield, the two-years-and-eloven-months’ old daughter of Ernest Horsfield, a blacksmith’s striker, 2. King street, Colne. During the temporary absence of the mother, an older sister, aged eleven, obtained a small pipe with a cigarette in, and she commenced to light this from the fire. Sho threw some of the lighted paper on the floor, and the baby’s pinafore caught fire, the flames shooting over her head, burning her terribly about the legs, arms, body, and face. Tho mother, in answer to the Coroner, said that sho could not afford to purchase a fireguard, though she was aware of tho fact that the law said sho ought to have one. Her husband had been out of work 15 weeks, and she had only Jiad 2s 6d from him. She had ton cHldren, and tho only one who was working was a girl sixteen years of age, who brought in 6s 6d per week. Out of this the rent had to be paid. The Coroner (to iho mother); How is it these children were not at school? Because they had no clogs. They have been without for two or three months. Tho Coroner: Not having clogs does not stop, them from going to school. The mother: They could not go without anything on their feet. One of my little girls has been walking about this morning without anything on her feet. Answering a juror, the mother stated that for three days prior to the accident they had been compelled to do without fire. The very day when they obtained some fuel the accident happened. They had also been without any food for several days at a time. Sho had sought relief from the relieving officer without success. A verdict of “Accidental death” was returned. . The second inquiry was with regard to the death of the five-months-old daughter of a widow named Susannah Stott. 7, Carry Bridge, Colne, who was found dead in bed.. The baby slept in the same bed as its mother, another woman, and a child, aged two years., The doctor who made a postmortem examination found that the child had died from suffocation. The Coroner as certained from the mother that she could not afford a crib, and added: “Children should always be pul into a crib at the bedside. It stops any question after as to whether they have been overlaid. I know you are working hard and have been very unfortunate, but when you are working so hard you naturally sleep very heavily. If you cannot afford a crib you can always buy an orange box for an outlay of twopence or threepence, and that makes a capital crib. A verdict of “Death from suffocation” was returned.